At present only two of the planned purchase of 100 aircraft will be ordered. Turkey will not be subjected to payment for the interim order of two F-35's. However, a payment of approximately 320 million dollars for the two aircraft will be made after delivery in 2015. As for the remaining order for 98 additional aircraft, a decision will be reached in accordance to the United States' stance regarding programs and flight codes.
The decision was reached yesterday by the Defense Industry Executive Committee. The Defense Industry Undersecretary was granted authority in regards to the F-35 order at yesterday's meeting. In a written announcement released following the meeting, it was stated, "As for orders in upcoming years, the Defense Industry Executive Committee will conduct additional evaluations based on the project's developments."
The F-35's, which will be replacing the F-16's, are qualified as phantom planes due to their ability to fly undetected by radars. In addition to the United States and Turkey, other manufacturing countries include England, Italy, Denmark, Norway, Australia and Canada. When flight codes were not granted, Turkey suspended the F-35 order. According to claims, England has also completely withdrawn from the project due to the same reason.
ANKA in 2012
Another significant decision reached at yesterday's meeting was for Turkey to embark upon mass production of the ANKA, the first domestic manufacture of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. Ten ANKA aircraft will be purchased and included in the inventory in 2012. Contract deliberation will begin with TAI for the initial ten-plane package. For the ten ANKA, TAI made a proposal of 380 million dollars. In addition, it was also decided that negotiations would be started with the U.S. Bell firm for the purchase of 15 new helicopters for the Security General Directorate.